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Overview

Mondial T

1989

The Mondial T represented a further step forward in the evolution of this most singular Ferrari: a truly high-performance car with a mid-mounted engine and room for four. The letter ‘T’ was inspired by the F1 312 T single-seater, which had just won the Formula 1 World Championship and also used the longitudinal engine/transverse gearbox layout.

Focus on

This new configuration allowed the whole drive-train of the Mondial T to be lowered by 13 cm, with significant benefits in terms of road-holding and handling. The final development of the Mondial series was the Mondial t model, which was announced in 1989, and was the most radical overhaul of the model during its production run.

The engine capacity increased to 3.4 litres and it became longitudinally mounted, instead of transversely on the previous models. It was coupled to a transverse gearbox, hence the letter “t” in the model designation, and had an ABS braking system as standard equipment, whilst the front and rear tracks increased by 2mm and 50mm respectively.

At the front, the paired retractable headlight units of the previous models were replaced by neater retractable rectangular homofocal units. The large trapezoidal rear wing air intakes disappeared, being replaced by smaller neat rectangular louvres on the rear wings, which were of a more bulbous profile, providing a more muscular stance to the car.

As on the Mondial 3.2, the tail badge did not differentiate between the coupé or the cabriolet, simply stating Mondial t. As with the previous model changes, the interior was once again modified, this time comprehensively, including a revised instrument nacelle, centre console, upholstery pattern and the facility for the rear seat backrests to fold flat to create a luggage platform. A leather dashboard and headlining was available as an option.

The main European market Mondial t coupé models had a tubular chassis with a factory type reference F 108 AL/D. As with the earlier models in the series it featured a bolted rear sub-frame section, so that the complete engine, transmission and rear suspension assembly could be removed as a single unit, for ease of maintenance.

The engine

The longitudinally mid mounted V8 engine of 3405cc capacity, was mated to a transverse five speed all synchromesh gearbox. The enlarged engine was provided with dry sump lubrication, and had factory type reference number F 119 DL and later F 119 G.

It was initially fitted with a Bosch M2.5 and then later an M2.7 Motronic combined injection/ignition system, to produce a claimed power output of 300bhp at 7200rpm for the first main European market series, and 295bhp for the later series with the M2.7 Motronic ignition unit and catalytic convertors in the exhaust system. As with other models in the Mondial series, the Mondial t was provided with independent suspension via wishbones, coil springs and hydraulic shock absorbers all round, with front and rear anti roll bars.

In addition it was fitted with power steering plus electronically controlled shock absorbers, that gave either hard, medium or soft settings, from a driver actuated switch. Towards the end of the production run a Valeo electronically actuated clutch became available as an option, which gave the facility of normal manual gear changes without using a clutch pedal.

As with the concurrent 2 seat models right and left hand drive was available, together with various world market specification models. From chassis number 75000, both odd and even numbers were used for the road production cars, thus, as all Mondial t coupés were produced post this number they have both odd and even chassis numbers. The model was produced between 1989 and 1993, with a total of 858 examples made in the chassis number range 79596 to 97698.

Careful selection of the best shots of the Mondial T in high definition. The photo gallery shows the distinctive features of this model Ferrari in 1989, focusing on the details and the most important parts.

Ferrari N.V. - Holding company - A company under Dutch law, having its official seat in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and its corporate address at Via Abetone Inferiore No. 4, I-41053 Maranello (MO), Italy, registered with the Dutch trade register under number 64060977